Mr Alfred Thomas Warbis, whose beautiful line drawings of buildings and scenes in the Loughborough area published under the heading "From an Artist's Sketchbook" delighted readers of the Echo for many years, died in Leicester General Hospital on Sunday, aged 92 years.

Mr Warbis, of the Mill House, Barrow-upon-Soar, contributed over at 1200 sketches to the Echo, and only gave up the work which he loved two years ago owing to failing eyesight and health. Whilst in hospital recently he did some drawing for the nurses and showed that he had lost none of his consummate skill and beauty of line and form.

He was proud of being a Cockney, having been born within both sound and sight of Bow Bells in South Hackney, but he never acquired a Cockney accent. He went to school in London and, showing a considerable flair for art, received lessons from several eminent teachers. On leaving he went into advertising and publicity, which was to be his life's work. Long after he retired from full-time work he continued as a consultant almost up to his 90th birthday.

At one-time when he was out of a job he is reported to have applied unsuccessfully for a job at a GEC in London. Nonetheless, he went to their offices and sat working for three days at a desk before anyone realised he was there - he got the job as a result! He gained experience with several companies and later worked at the Supermarine company in Southampton, where he was a colleague of John Mitchell, who designed the Spitfire. Mitchell asked him to make a drawing of a fighter plane for war purposes and Mr Warbis duly obliged with a fairly conventional sketch. He noticed that Mitchell was holding the drawing upside down and pointed this out, but Mitchell continued his study and this may have been the inspiration for the distinct wings of the Spitfire which did so much in the battle of Britain in 1940.

Mr Warbis eventually went to Petters Ltd. at Yeovil in Somerset as a publicity manager, also to its subsidiary the Westland Aircraft Company, working with members of the Petters family, and moved to Loughborough in 1939 when Petters, manufacturers of the famed diesel engines, joined Brush.

He was joint publicity manager with Mr Lewis Hart and also did work for associated Brush companies such as Aboe and British Oil Engines (Exports). He was publicity consultant to Brush Coachworks and to Crowther Ltd, Thurmaston, and his advice and help were always in demand.

Mr Warbis, whose art tutors included Herbert Railton, Sydney R Jones and Austin Spence, did art work for a time with his twin brother William F A Warbis, and their services were greatly in demand by London newspapers and magazines.

The one-time Mr Warbis had 30 different drawings appearing in 30 different publications in the same week and during his long career he had more than 5,000 black and white sketches printed. At one time he worked for the Sunday Times. He knew the Parker sisters, Ben Tillett, Tom Mann and other leading figures.

As well as the Echo, Mr Warbis contributed drawings during this time it in newspapers at Coalville, Melton Mowbray and Plymouth, and often made successful use of photographs on which to base his expert and delicate craft.

In Somerset he wrote and illustrated books on villages and was a member of the county's Archaeological Society; one of his books on Yeovil was laid beneath the foundation stone of the new town hall there. He was also a Freemason during this period.

In 1949 Mr Warbis was a central figure in a worldwide art scandal. He entered several pictures for a local artists' exhibition at the Loughborough public library and the experts were persuaded that one which was entitled "Figure of Eight, Skegness" represented the outstanding work of a modernist.

It was signed "T Warbis", and was lauded by many as the work of a genius - only for the perpetrator of the whole business to announce that it was nothing more than a daub by his six-year-old son Thomas and that the family cat had finished off the whole thing by padding across it!

The story appeared in newspapers all over the world - £1,000 was offered for the picture, but was not accepted - and Mr Warbis had made his point with a vengeance.

During the 1914-18 war Mr Warbis served with the Rough Riders and the 10th County of London Regiment, reaching the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major, and on his active service took part in the Gallipoli landings; in the last war, he served in the Shepshed Battalion of the Home Guard.

He was fond of reading and found relaxation in chess, which he played to a high standard. He was a devout member of the Roman Catholic faith, to which he was a convert, and the funeral service at St Alban's Church, Barrow, today (Friday) will be conducted by the new parish priest, Canon Mitchell. The interment will be in Barrow Cemetery.

Mr Warbis was twice married, leaves his wife Mary, who is with Hawker Siddeley Power Engineering, Burton-on-the-Wolds, and is a well-known musician, with two sons and two daughters.

Article reproduced with kind permission of The Loughborough and Shepshed Echo.